{YA Fantasy Writer}

A Hazy Shade of Winter

This page is a more detailed, in-depth look at A Hazy Shade of Winter, with a full synopsis, character information, cover, etc.

The Synopsis

When Josselyn’s father, the King of Eidraes, is brutally murdered, she gives into cowardice and flees across the border that separates Eidraes from her neighboring kingdom of Ostax. This leaves the throne vacant for her uncle, a position he gladly takes up, without hesitation.

Josselyn spends the next five years in a chosen exile, in Ostax, known for its brutal landscape and people. She lives a relatively safe life, free to enjoy her childhood like she hadn’t been able to before, until one day, when her former betrothed finds her, after many long years of searching for his one true love. The only problem is, Josselyn most certainly doesn’t feel the same way about her Prince Charming. Prince Ashtyn believes it is sworn duty to retrieve his beloved from her exile, return her to Eidraes, her kingdom and her people, and aid her in regaining her throne. He fails to see and understand the crushing weight of ruling a nation that forced the Princess to run in the first place.

Learning the full truth behind her father’s death spurs Josselyn into action, resulting in her deciding to place her heart ahead of her brain, so she can finally avenge her father, all amidst navigating a life she thought lost to her, all those years ago. Josselyn must first accept the darkness that resides within her heart and begin to forge her own path, towards her true destiny, and her real true love, with a happy ending she more than deserves. It is a story of love, betrayal, loss, murder, loyalty, and family, featuring a lost Princess trying to find her way back home, and a family betrayal that results in the destruction of the thing every person holds most dear.

The Overall Idea of AHSoW

A Hazy Shade of Winter is Hamlet meets Macbeth Retelling, with a touch of an alternate timeline Russian Revolution and is along the same vein as ABC’s Once Upon a Time, with its kick-ass heroine, multi-faceted antagonists, and complicated family dynamics.

The Cover, ETC.

Considering that AHSoW started off as an ‘Anastasia’ retelling, it’s quite appropriate that the cover that I had commissioned should reflect this. It also very much reflects the story/characters itself. The color reflects the overall tone of the book, and the mountainside and the snow falling reflects the settings.

And here is the cover and title page for the planned sequel/final book, A CROWN STAINED WITH BLOOD! Both covers were commissioned from the wonderful Mulan Jiang.

A Little About The People

AHSoW centers on Josselyn, the Crown Princess of Eidraes, and her life after her father is brutally murdered. Unbeknownst to Joss, forces outside of knowledge controlled the situation from within, and there is much corruption with the royal family.

She’s considered very beautiful, even from a young age, with light, curled blonde hair and bright ice toned blue eyes. She’s light on her feet and good at defending herself should the situation call for it. She’s also cursed, though she is definitely not aware of this, but her mother most certainly is.

AHSoW is Josselyn’s story, through and through. We follow her from a spoiled thirteen year old Princess who runs because of her cowardice, all the way to a seventeen year old Queen fighting for her throne against any who would take it.

Book Two is officially title A Crown Stained with Blood and here’s the cover!